Balanced panic door



NQW 27, E, PEREM! ETAL 2,576,854

BALANCED PANIC DOOR Filed Jan. 27, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENT RS l Edmund erema Herzr Wezlmamz BY W S ATTORN Y NW0 27, 11953 E. PEREMI ET AL BALANCED PANIC DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 2'7, 1945 INVENTO RS Edmund 16mm L B Hen/7 We irrzmzzza r l ATTORNEYS NW. 27, R9531 E. PEREMK ET AL BALANCED PANIC DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 27, 1945 INVENTORS Edmund ,Peremz A Hem' Weizmann g3 A ATTORNE 5 E. PEREMI ET AL BALANCED PANIC DOOR New 27, R951 5 Sheets-$heet 4 Filed Jan. 27, 1945 INVENTOR Edmundl az eml sv j' E FmR Nm 27 1951 E. PEREMI ET AL BALANCED PANIC DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 27, 1945 mm m wmW JrM uw/ EH 2% B Patented Nov. 27, 195i UNITE S'iAi'iES FFICE BALANCED PANIC DOOR Application January 27, 1945, Serial No. 574,842

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a door construction.

An object of the invention resides in the creation of a door which is so constructed and mounted in a doorway that, when force is applied adjacent one of its stiles, the door will have a pivotal movement and a movement of translation toward one of the door jainbs to extend both inwardly and outwardly of the doorway adjacent one jamb thereof, and when force is applied adjacent both stiles of the door on one face thereof, the door will swing on a single pivot to extend outwardly of and entirely olear of the doorway.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a door of the character above referred to, in which the construction is simple, sturdy and easily installed and maintained, and in which the operating and control mechanisms are concealed within the door and the doorway structures and in which the mechanical closing device for the door is located in the floor beneath the door.

With these and other objects in view that will be pointed out as this description progresses, the invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts described in the specification and set forth in the claims, but it is to be understood that details of construction may be varied within the skill of the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a door constructed in accordance with our invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the door construction at the top of the door;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section on line 3 -3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6-'6 of Figure 2;

' Figure '7 is a horizontal section on the line 1-1 of Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a vertical section of the bottom of the door construction;

.Figure 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a section on the line lil-l"0 of Figure8;

Figure 11 is a section on line I I-I I of Figure 8;

Figure 12 is a section on line l2--l 2 of Figure 1; pFigure 13. is. a view showing the door in its closed position;

Figure 14 shows :the door partly swung in its pivotal movement and in its movement of translation as a balanced door;

Figure 15 is a similar view showing the door after it has completed its movement toward the jamb;

Figure 16 shows the door swung as a panic door wherein it swings about a single pivot as a hinge, the dotted lines indicating the progress of the door from its closed toward its open position; and

Figure 17 is a horizontal sectional View, partly in elevation, of a iioor type door check that may be used in our invention.

The invention will be described in connection with a single door, but it is of course to be understood that a series of doors may be arranged contiguous to each other in a manner that is now common in the general art. In Figures 1 and 13 one of such doors is shown and a second indicated.

In the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawings the door, which includes upper and lower rails l and 2, and side stiles 3 and 4, is mounted in a doorway which is defined by the jambs 5 and 6, the head 1 and the floor 8.

The jamb 5, as shown in Figure 12, may be made in separate pieces for convenience of production and is hollow from end to end. Within the jamb 5 a coordinating element 9 is located. This coordinating element includes a rod which extends vertically within the j amb 5 and. is preferably at least fora portion of its length of tubular form and acts as a main vertical pivot member. A supporting arm Hi is preferably rigid with the coordinating element 9 at its upper end, as indicated at 9', and a similar arm II is preferably rigid with the coordinating element at its lower end, as indicated at 9".

Reference to Figure '7 of the drawings will disclose that the end l2 of each of these arms is designed to conform to the contour of the adjacent door jamb so that the appearance of the jamb at its upper and lower ends where it is cut away to accommodate the arms Iii and I! will conform to that of the intervening portion.

The lower arm H is provided with a socket in which the rotatable lug IQ of a floor type door check, indicated as a whole by the reference numoral is, is secured by a set screw 14. This door check that we have illustrated includes a casing l3a that may be set in the floor of the doorway in any suitable manner. An arm [3b is pivoted to an ear E30 that is rigid with the lug l2 and is connected by links [3d and 36 to a winding plate iii! of a coil spring I39. This coil spring is mounted within the casing 13a in such manner that the spring may be put under such initial tension as is desired. Arms l3h and 131' are rigid with the lug l2 and have links 139' and I370 pivotally connected thereto. These links 131i and 537s are pivoted to pistons [3m and 13a that operate within the cylinders H30 and I310 which cylinders are held rigidly within the casing 13a by any suitable means and which cylinders are provided with openings i311 through which the air may leak as the pistons approach their closed ends.

Thus, when the door is moved as a balanced door into the position illustrated in Figure 1-5, the lug IE will be moved in a counter clockwise direc tion. This movement of the lug will wind the spring 53g through the linkage connection thereto and place the spring under tension so that when the door is released the spring will operate to return the door to its initial or closed position.

Moreover, when the door is moved to an open position as a balanced door, the piston 13m will move outwardly in its cylinder, while the piston l3n will move inwardly in its cylinder, and when the door is moved to its initial or closed position by the spring 539 the pistons will have the reverse movements. Thus the movements of the door as a balanced door will be cushioned as the door approaches its open and closed positions.

When the door is moved as a panic door, as for instance into the position shown in Figure 16, the lug [2 will move in a clockwise direction. At this time the spring l3g will be placed under no tension and therefore will not tend to close the door.

However, to insure the door remaining open we form a seat I37 in the piston in which seat cooperates with a ball [3s which is pressed, by means of a spring I3t, into engagement with the seat when the piston reaches its outermost position, as it does when the door reaches its open position as a panic door. The pressure exerted by this spring i313, however, is such that it may easily be overcome by a pull on the door when it is desired to restore the door to its initial or closed position.

Furthermore, the operations of the pistons in their cylinders will cushion the movements of the-door as it approaches its open and closed positions when operating as a panic door.

A pivot pin [5 is slidably mounted within the opening at the upper end of the coordinating element 9. Set screws it pass through the coordinating element 9 and are adapted to engage the pivot pin to secure it to the coordinating element. A set screw ll, that passes through the pivot pin and has threaded engagement with the coordinating element at the two points indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings, cooperates with the set screws It to hold the pivot pin l5 and the coordinating element together as a rigid unit. It may, however, be backed off from its screw threaded engagement with the coordinating element to slide within the slot I8 to permit the movement of the pivot pin within the coordinating element when the set screws it are disengaged from the pivot pin, but to limit the movement of the pivot pin within the coordinating element by its engagement with the bottom of the slot 18.

The upper end of the pivot pin is mounted in a thrust and lateral bearing [9 that is carried by a bracket on the adjacent wall. The pivot pin I5 is screw threaded at its upper end and is provided with a nut 2| between which and the bear ing it a washer is interposed.

Thus when the set screws are engaged with the pivot pin the nut may be operated to raise or lower the door for adjustment, and when the set screws it are disengaged, the set screw ll loosened and the nut 2| removed, the pin may be dropped down in the recess of the coordinating element 9 to a point below the head of the doorway. Thus the upper end of the door may be swung outwardly and the door removed from the lug 12 of the door step and thus from the doorway.

Referring to Figures 12 and 16 particularly, it will be noted that the edge of the door stile 3 adjacent the jamp 5 recedes and may be formed as an are 22 whose center is the vertical center of the coordinating element 9, to permit the door to clear the jamb in its movements to open and closed positions. Thus when the door is moved about the coordinating element only, as a pivot, the door will clear the jamb 5 as the door moves outwardly in a simple swinging movement about the center of the coordinating element 9 as its only pivot, and may assume the position shown in Figure 16 where it extends entirely beyond the doorway area so that the latter is entirely free from the door frame.

A suitable weather stripping 23 may be carried by the door to seal the space between the jamb 5 and the edge of the stile 3 when the door is in a closed position, this weather stripping being flexible to permit its passage around the door jamb.

The upper and lower rails of the door are provided with recesses 24 and 25, which open through the outer face of the door but are closed by the abutment iacings 26 and 21 of the upper and lower rails. These pins 28 and 29 act as supporting arm pivot members 34. These recesses are of sufficient depth to permit the arms In and I I to lie flush with the outer face of the rails so as to impart a finished appearance to the rails.

The arms l0 and H are pivotally connected by pins 28 and 29 to the upper and lower rails I and 2 respectively, which pass through ears 30 on the rails and are provided with antifriction bearings 30, the axis of the pivot being at the outer face of each of the rails.

Thus the coordinating element 9 and the upper and lower arms I0 and H form a door supporting bracket which will permit the door to swing as a balanced door or as a panic door in the manner later to be described.

A panic arm 3| is pivoted at 32 on a bracket 33 carried by the upper rail l of the door and extends along the upper face thereof between its vertical walls and is free to pass over its inner edge as the door assumes the position illustrated in Figure 16 of the drawings. A guide pin 34 is carried by this panic arm and is provided with a roller bearing at 35 which is adapted to operate in a trackway 36 that extends longitudinally of the head of the doorway. This pin 34 acts as a sliding pivot member when the door is operated as a balanced door.

A panic latch, including a bolt 31 that is normally pressed by a spring 38 into a cam notch 39 in the panic arm 3| to maintain the panic arm rigid with the door, is located within a recess in the upper face of the upper rail l of the door and is thus hidden from view.

With the weight of the door supported by the coordinating element 9 and the arms it and II and with the guide pin 34 located substantially midway between the stiles of the door, the wind pressure on the face of the door will offer no substantial resistance to the pivotal movement of the. door about the pin; 34 when force is applied to the door between the pivot 34 and the free edge of the door. When force is thus applied to the door, the door will swing or pivot about the guide pin 34 with the result that the free edge of the, door will moveoutwardly of the doorway and the opposite edge of the door will move in,- wardlyat the same time, that the door moves about the pivot E i, the door supporting bracket, which includes the coordinating element 9 and the upper and lower arms in and H, will be swung, about the axis of the coordinating element as av pivot, with the result, that the door will be drawntoward the iamb by movement of translation.

In order that the opening movement of the door toward thejamb 5, when the door operates as abalanced door, may be checked with a cushion action, we have provided a resilient abutment member 4G which is in the line of movement of, and adapted to be engaged by, the upper end of the guide pin 34.

In order that the door, when operated as a balanced door, may be locked in its open position, we have provided a manually operable looking means within the head which includes a lever 4| pivoted at 42, one end of this lever carrying a locking bolt 43 on a sliding pivot connection 44, and the other end being provided with a finger piece 45 which has a sliding pivot connection 45 with the lever. Both the finger piece 45 and the locking bolt 43 register with openings in the door head and are so constructed that upward pressure on the finger piece will lower the locking bolt into the path of movement of the upper rail of the door to prevent the return of the door to its closed position. The bolt 43 may be released by upward pressure thereon.

The locking bolt 43 is provided with seats 41 which are adapted, selectively, to receive a spring-pressed detent 48 to hold the locking bolt either in its looking or inoperative positions as will be readily understood.

When force is applied to the inner face of the door, on both sides of the pivot 34, to open the door as, for instance, under panic conditions, the tension of the spring 38 will be overcome and the bolt 3? will be moved out of the cam notch 39 in the panic arm 3|. This action will release the guide pin 34 from the door, with the result that the door will not have a pivotal action around this pin. The door will then have only one pivot, namely, that defined by the vertical line extending through the center of the coordinating element 9. The door will then swing in a similar manner to an ordinary hinged door, having no pivotal movement about the guide pin 34, and having no movement of translation, but only a pivotal or hinged action about the axis of the coordinating element 9, and no other movement, with the result that the door will be swung into open position entirely to clear the doorway, as illustrated in Figure 16.

Thus when the door is in its closed position, as shown in Figure 13, and force is applied to one face of the door between the pivot point 34 and the free edge of the door, that is to say, when a push is applied from the inside of the door, or a pull from the outside of the door, the door will pivot about the pin 34 and, because of the pivotal attachment of the arms In and H to the door and the pivotal movement of the coordinating element 9, the guide pin 34 will slide in the trackway in the head 1 of the doorway. Thus the door will have both a pivotal movement and a movement of translation, and as a result will move from the position shown in Figure 13 through the position shown in Figure 14, and to the final position shown in Figure 15, where one portion of the door extends inwardly of the doorway and a substantially equal portion extends outwardly of the doorway.

When, however, force is applied to the inner surface of the door on both sides of the pivot 34, as for instance when, in a panic, a crowd of persons rush for the doorway, the force applied will disconnect the panic latch from the panic arm 3|, and the door will swing with the coordinating element 9 and arms in and II, andon the axis of the coordinating element alone, as a pivot, passing through the dotted line position shown in Figure 16 to the position shown in full lines in Figure 16. During this swinging movement the arms l0 and II will move with the door since the facings 26 and 21 of the upper and lower rails l and 2 of the door will act as abutments for the arms.

Thus the arms Ill and I l and the door will move as a unit with no relative pivotal movement between them.

Moveover, because of the form of and the association and relationship between the door, the jamb, the coordinating element and the arms, the door will swing entirely outwardly from the doorway, extending outward from the jamb and entirely clear of the doorway with the result that there will be no interference with the passage of persons through the doorway.

In doors of the same general class as that of the subject matter of our invention in the prior patented art, as, for instance, in the Ellison Patent 2,019,528, of November 5, 1935, when the door is moved as a panic door it must necessarily, in order to open to a serviceable degree, have a compound pivotal movement as distinguished from the simple pivotal movement of the door of our invention. That is to say, it must have pivotal movement not only about the axis of the coordinating element but also about the pivot between the ends of the arms and the door itself, as is clearly illustrated in Figure 3 of said Ellison patent, where the door is shown as having moved pivotally about both of the axes 34 and 37. In this phase of our invention we distinguish from this prior art in that when the door is swung outwardly as a panic door it has a simple pivotal movement only, about the axis of the coordinating element only rather than a compound pivotal mvement about the axis of the coordinating element and also the pivots at the ends of the arms.

Thus we have created a balanced and panic door which is simple and sturdy in construction and positive in operation and which, when acting as a panic door, will entirely clear the doorway to permit passage of persons therethrough without obstruction, and one in which the operating and control mechanisms are concealed within the door and doorway structure and in which the mechanical closing device for the door is located in the floor beneath the door.

While we have described certain details of construction in the embodiment that we have selected to illustrate the invention, it must be understood that many of these details of construction may be changed, as will readily be realized by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention and I within the scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. In a balanced and panic door construction, a door framing having a transverse trackway, a door arranged within said door framing, supporting means for said door comprising a main vertical pivot member adjacent one side edge of said door, a supporting arm mounted adjacent one of its ends on said main vertical pivot member for pivotal movement about the axis thereof, a supporting arm pivot member pivotally connecting the other end of said supporting arm and said door between the side edges of said door, interengageable abutment means on said door and said supporting arm to limit the movement of said door about said supporting arm pivot member inone direction so that said door and said supporting arm may move as a unit about said main vertical pivot member only, a slidable pivot member slidable along said trackway toward and away from said main vertical pivot member in a predetermined and guided path, means for releasably connecting said slidable pivot member to said door between said supporting arm pivot member and the side edge of said door remote from said main vertical pivot member comprising a panic arm having a. releasable end connected to said slidable pivot member and pivotally connected to said door at its other end, and a latch for releasably securing said panic arm and said slidable pivot member to said door, said panic arm when released by said latch being freely pivotally movable in respect to said door, and said slidable pivot member being freely movable toward said main vertical pivot member in said predetermined and guided path throughout substantially ninety degrees of movement of said door on said main vertical pivot member only, and said panic arm permitting said door to move substantially ninety degrees on its said main vertical pivot member only, when said panic arm is released by said latch.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein said panic arm is mounted above the upper face of said door and is free to move across one edge of said face.

3. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein said abutment means comprises a flange on said door which is engageable with a portion of said arm.

4. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein means is provided for automatically locking said door in an open position at the end of its movement on said main vertical pivot only.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Ellison Mar. 5, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland of 1936 Number Number 

